Wear Sunblock, Mainsail Art Festival, Quiet Easter

Last week, I had to go to the Dermatologist's office to get some pre-cancerous spots on my face checked out.  I saw the P.A. and  a few blasts of liquid nitrogen later, the spots were all frozen.  So, I have put a deposit on my penance for my misspent youth in the sun :).  This was my first date with the liquid nitrogen gun, but probably not my last.

Saturday, we joined some friends in downtown St. Pete for the Mainsail Art Festival in Vinoy park.  It is a lovely location right on the water.

 There were over 200 artists  displaying their work.  It was a very good show.  It is really a good thing that we don't have a yard anymore.  I really love these sculptures.

My favorite painting was this portrait of our illustrious governor.  Let's just say, I thought it was a very good likeness.  The artist seemed to know that he was never going to sell it, but he was gracious in letting lots of folks take pictures of it.



After lunch at the festival, we decided to check out the Vinoy hotel.  We had never been inside. 

 The Vinoy was built in 1925. It fell in to disrepair and was closed in 1974.  It sat empty for 18 years.  It was purchased in 1990.  After a 93 million dollar renovation, it reopened as a Stouffer Hotel in 1992.  It is really beautiful inside.
During the renovation, a crate of 1400 pieces of china and serving items was discovered in a store room.  They had this table setting on display.  It is amazing it survived as squatters lived in the empty hotel for years.

We walked around the grounds and enjoyed the beautiful detail all around the building.  It is an elegant hotel and was busy with weddings on this spring Saturday.





After our walk at the festival and walking tour of the hotel, we were pooped.  As we made our way to the car, we got the big reminder that we are getting old.

It was about 4:00 pm so I checked out this "Happy Hour" sign.

I don't think I could make a 10PM happy hour if the beer was free :)







We enjoyed Easter lunch at a nearby beach bar.  It was a beautiful day and the beach was not crowded. It was a very nice day.

Today is cool and the winds are calm.  We are going to get out for a paddle this morning.